COMPARING THE ANTIGINGIVITIS, ANTIPLAQUE EFFECTIVENESS OF CRANBERRY AND CHLORHEXIDINE MOUTH RINSE – A SINGLE BLIND RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIAL

Background: Dental caries has been considered as the single most preventable and prevalent oral infectious disease. As tooth brushing is considered to be the most common oral hygiene method, dentifrices are also the most ideal vehicle for the daily delivery of antibacterial agents. Chlorhexidine mouthwash is found to possess the most superior anti-plaque property and is considered to be the gold standard. Cranberry is used as fresh fruit, juice, and also as medicine. It has antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and antitumor activities. Therefore we can see that there is a need to evaluate its effect against various oral infections.

Aim: The aim of the study is to compare the anti gingivitis, anti plaque of 0.6% cranberry mouthwash against 0.2% chlorhexidine mouthwash on undergraduate dental students.

Materials and Methods: The present study was a single blinded, parallel group clinical trial carried out in Saveetha Dental College, Chennai. Two groups of 20 subjects (aged between 18–22 years) were randomly divided into Group A (n=10) and Group B (n=10) and were each given 5mL of cranberry mouthwash or chlorhexidine mouthwash twice daily for 7 days respectively. At baseline and 7th day, the gingival index and plaque index was recorded. Before the study began, an informed consent was taken from all the participants about their willingness to participate in the study. Descriptive statistics were expressed in the form of mean and standard deviation. Shapiro-Wilk's test was used to find the normality of data. To compare the mean differences in plaque and gingival index scores before and after treatment, Wilcoxon signed Rank test was used within each group. Mann-Whitney 'U Test to estimate differences between the mean Plaque index score and mean gingival index between the groups.

Results and Discussion: This study portraits the gingival index and plaque index before and after use of cranberry and chlorhexidine mouthwash has significantly reduced. So, in the present study, a statistically significant reduction in mean plaque and mean gingival index scores were observed in both the groups at baseline and 7th day.

Conclusion: From this study we can conclude that herbal products like cranberry can act as effective as chlorhexidine in improving the oral hygiene status with additional systemic benefits and minimal side effects with long term use. Further detailed studies are required in the evaluation of the advantages and side effects of such herbal extracts.